Business121 Small Business Newsletter #93

In this week's Business121:

1. Pre-Budget Report brings bad news for small businesses
2. Website Navigation - How to keep your site visitors happy
3. Business Finance - Essential facts about Business Angels
4. How to keep your business bank charges low
5. Can you run your business bank account 100% electronically?
6. Customer Complaints - How to improve customer satisfaction
7. Companies Act 2006 - First provisions implemented
8. Trade Marks Act - Changes to make application process simpler
9. The benefits of choosing a business broadband package

Small Business News
10. Employee holiday entitlement increases
11. HMRC proposes new Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) for businesses
12. VAT on computers provided for home use - revised treatment
13. Business tax system needs to be simplified
14. Contractor Umbrella Companies - Myths and Facts
15. National everywoman Conference - London 14th November
16. Fast Growth Business Awards 2008

Pre-Budget Report brings bad news for small businesses

Hundreds of thousands of small business owners will be bitterly disappointed to learn of the effects of yesterday's Pre-Budget Report (PBR).

Not content with hitting small businesses in his first Budget - by hiking the Small Firms Tax rate from 19% to 22% - Alistair Darling has singled out small business owners for further punishment in his first PBR, with the abolition of business taper relief.

Taper relief was announced with great fanfare in 1998 by Gordon Brown, during his tenure as Chancellor. The stated aim of business taper relief was to 'encourage investment and innovation'. Presumably, with its removal, both Brown and Darling are happy in the knowledge that they will be actively 'discouraging investment and innovation'.

The abolition of taper relief and the introduction of a flat rate of 18% for Capital Gains Tax means business owners that have spent more than 2 years building a business will now have to pay CGT at 18% instead of 10% when they sell their business - a massive 80% increase.

The change in CGT will take place from April 5, 2008 so if you're a small business owner and have been thinking about selling your business, you may be better off selling up now so you can take advantage of taper relief while it is still available.

There are more details of the Pre-Budget Report on the website with Pre-Budget Report 2007 - Inheritance Tax, CGT Changes and Business reaction to the Pre-Budget Report.

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Website Navigation - How to keep your site visitors happy
When designing your small business website (or upgrading an existing one), one of the key things to focus on is the site's internal navigation structure. You need to make it easy for your visitors to find the information they're after, you want them to stay on the site for more than a few seconds, and you want them to come back again in the future. Here are our Top 10 website navigation tips.

Business Finance - Essential facts about Business Angels
TV programme Dragons’ Den has done a great job in educating people about a handy source of funding: Business Angels. Just like the Dragons themselves, Business Angels are people who are already minted, and want to invest in businesses to make even more cash!Here are some other essential facts you need to know about Business Angels before you go hunting their money.

How to keep your business bank charges low
One of the most frustrating things you will come up against as a small business owner are bank charges. Unlike personal banking, where we are used to paying only to have an overdraft, most business bank accounts have to be paid for. Here are a few simple ways to help you stay on top of charges and reduce the impact on your business.

Can you run your business bank account 100% electronically?
Here’s an interesting challenge: in an age when you can run your business virtually 100 per cent electronically, can you do all of your banking without ever touching a piece of paper?

Customer Complaints - How to improve customer satisfaction
Measuring customer satisfaction reaches far beyond counting the number of customer complaints. Very few customers will complain directly, so you need to actively ask for their honest opinions.

Companies Act 2006 - First provisions implemented
At last, it's here. The longest single piece of legislation ever passed by Parliament. Some major provisions of the Companies Act 2006 come into force on October 1st.

Trade Marks Act - Changes to make application process simpler
Hot on the heels of the Companies Act 2006 implementation, amendments to the Trade Marks Act 1994 also came into play. From October 1st, the Trade Mark application process has been made simpler for new applicants.

The benefits of choosing a business broadband package
If you're searching for a broadband package for your business, you should consider many aspects of the service, not just the price. To help you understand what you should look for in a broadband package, UK Online have written this quick guide to explain the benefits of business broadband.

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SMALL BUSINESS NEWS
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Employee holiday entitlement increases
With holiday entitlements set to increase by four days from 1 October 2007, employment relations service Acas has launched a new guide offering free advice to help employers introduce the changes.

HMRC proposes new Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) for businesses
HMRC are proposing a change to the way in which purchases of plant and equipment are written off for tax purposes. The change is likely to be introduced for companies on 1 April 2008, and for sole traders and partnerships April 6th 2008.

VAT on computers provided for home use - revised treatment
On 6 April 2006 the Government withdrew the Home Computer Initiative - from that date the provision of a computer for home use to an employee may become a taxable benefit. On August 13th 2007, the VAT rules caught up!

Business tax system needs to be simplified
New research from PriceWaterhouseCoopers shows that, although awareness levels of business tax reliefs and incentives have increased in recent years, the need for simplification of the tax system is very real.

Contractor Umbrella Companies - Myths and Facts
Many "myths" and "facts" surround IT contractor umbrella company schemes. One leading provider aims to get rid of the myths with a dedicated section on its website.

National everywoman Conference - London 14th November
This year's National everywoman conference will take place in London on Wednesday 14th November. The conference includes networking events, interactive workshops and a number of keynote speakers.

Fast Growth Business Awards 2008
Entries are open for the Fast Growth Business Awards 2008. The Awards reward the UK's fastest growing companies and the people running them.

** For the latest Small Business News, visit http://www.Bytestart.co.uk **

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